The ﬁfty one days of escalated hostilities that started on 7 July 2014 entailed intensive bombardments, rocket, mortar ﬁre and ground operations across the Gaza Strip. This resulted in a record number of civilian casualties, the devastation of civilian buildings and infrastructure, and large scale displacement. Every man, woman and child in the Gaza Strip - some 1.8 million people – were directly affected by the conﬂict. Rocket ﬁre from Gaza also affected communities in Israel. On 26 August, the parties to the conﬂict reached an open-ended cease-ﬁre, which has held to date. However, the situation remains very fragile, due to the scale of the needs, the slow pace of reconstruction, the ongoing blockade and internal tensions. The situation could be further exacerbated in the event of anticipated, small-scale emergencies, such as winter ﬂooding.

KEY FIGURES

FUNDING: GAZA FLASH APPEAL 2014

The Gaza Crisis Appeal presents the joint strategy of the humanitarian community, including UNRWA, to respond to the current crisis in the Gaza Strip. The appeal is closely coordinated with the Government of the State of Palestine, including with its Early Recovery and Reconstruction Strategy.

RESPONSE PRIORITIES

Meet the needs of internally displaced person (IDPs) is a key cross-cutting issue across clusters. Transition and return solutions IDPs have been discussed and laid out in an IDP strategy paper.

Address the shelter needs of the affected population, both in the immediate term through effective shelter management and in the medium term, through supporting the displaced to return to adequate housing in a timely manner, through either temporary rental assistance or immediate shelter repair and reconstruction.

Ensure provision of basic services, including water and sanitation, health, energy and solid waste collection, social protection to vulnerable groups including for gender based violence (GBV) survivors, child protection/welfare as well as education, to the affected population with a particular focus on IDPs in UNRWA-run, governmental and informal shelters as well as those with host families.

Meet the food security needs of affected populations and food insecure families and enable recovery and restoration of damaged livelihoods.

Enhance the protection of affected populations by promoting respect for international humanitarian law and human rights and providing legal support to pursue accountability for alleged violations.

Address the protection needs of vulnerable groups, in particular IDPs, children, orphans, pregnant women and female headed households, though the provision of psychosocial and livelihood support, and addressing immediate explosive remnants of war (ERW) and similar threats.

Ensure adequate winterization takes place for people living in collective centers, transitional housing solutions and in damaged homes and preposition adequate supplies to prepare for and respond to small-scale emergencies related to the upcoming winter season, such as non food items (NFIs), fuel, spare parts and equipment and rubble removal and drainage material as well as mobile pumps. Locations to host additional IDPs as a result of a possible winter-weather related emergency need to be identified and prepared.

Ongoing and Planned Response

1. School reconstruction and rehabilitation (including replacement of damaged furniture and classroom materials).

2. Provision of psychosocial support and extra-curricular activities.

3. Procurement of school uniforms, stationary and other student supplies.

4. Winterization of schools damaged by conﬂict and identiﬁcation of additional schools to be used as IDP collective centers.